The UIC Flames softball team returns to the West Coast to compete in the Stanford Invitational Tournament, starting on Friday, Feb. 18, at 2:00 p.m. CT. The Flames are scheduled to play in five games this weekend, including two games against the hosting team in Stanford.

The Flames will face BYU (2:00 p.m.) and Stanford (4:30 p.m.) on Friday, San Jose State (5:00 p.m.) and Stanford (8:00 p.m.) once again on Saturday, and Seattle (11:30 a.m.) on Sunday morning for UIC's final game of the tournament.

UIC returns to California after going 2-3 at the San Diego State Tournament last weekend. The Flames were able to pick up wins against Cal Poly (1-0) and Middle Tennessee State (2-1). UIC faced Stanford in that tournament, falling to the Cardinal, 6-2. UIC struggled against the pitching, notching two hits against Regan Krause. Impressively, the Flames were able to turn both hits into RBI, with Tara McElligott scoring Maica Ingles off a fourth-inning triple and Emma Crowley scoring Larisa Villa with a single up the middle in the fifth.

McElligott had one of the most impressive first weekends in the nation, finishing with seven hits in 12 at-bats, two home runs, including a grand slam, and seven RBI on the tournament. The senior finished with a .583 batting average, a .667 on-base percentage, and an astounding 1.333 slugging percentage in the first weekend of the competition. The senior infielder was named the Horizon League Player of the Week after leading the conference in batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, home runs, and RBI. Additionally, McElligott ranks seventh in the nation in slugging percentage.

The Flames saw a solid outing from Maica Ingles, who finished with four hits, including a triple, two walks, one RBI, and five runs. Ingles' five runs led the team. Other key contributors on offense were freshman Jojo Santiago and Grace Fleming. Santiago finished with five hits on the weekend, including a game-winning RBI single in the fifth inning against Middle Tennessee. Fleming was also clutch in the game against Middle Tennessee, scoring the game-tying run by smoking an RBI double down the left-field line, and was the game-winning run that Santiago scored.

Carlee Jo Clark led the pitching staff in the first game against Cal Poly, throwing a complete-game shutout in her very first appearance as a UIC Flame. Clark allowed eight hits but never lost composure on the bump. The Flames will need some strong play from their pitchers against this weekend's competition. 

The first pitch of the Flames weekend is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 18, at 2:00 p.m. CT against BYU.